Old Salt Kossabone
Far back, related on my mother’s side,Old Salt Kossabone, I’ll tell you how he died:(Had been a sailor all his life--was nearly 90--lived with hismarried grandchild, Jenny;House on a hill, with view of bay at hand, and distant cape, andstretch to open sea;)The last of afternoons, the evening hours, for many a year hisregular custom,In his great arm chair by the window seated,(Sometimes, indeed, through half the day,)Watching the coming, going of the vessels, he mutters to himself--And now the close of all:One struggling outbound brig, one day, baffled for long--cross-tidesand much wrong going,At last at nightfall strikes the breeze aright, her whole luck veering,And swiftly bending round the cape, the darkness proudly entering,cleaving, as he watches,“She’s free--she’s on her destination”--these the last words--whenJenny came, he sat there dead,Dutch Kossabone, Old Salt, related on my mother’s side, far back.
Words in this poem
- grandchild n.
- A son's or daughter's child; a child in the second degree of descent.
- jenny n.
- A familiar or pet form of the proper name Jane.
- nightfall n.
- The close of the day.
- aright adv.
- Rightly; correctly; in a right way or form; without mistake or crime; as, to worship God aright. [Pref. a- + right.]
- destination n.
- The act of destining or appointing. [L. destinatio determination: cf. F. destination destination.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Old Salt Kossabone is in the public domain. This text is taken from Leaves of Grass, Project Gutenberg ebook #1322; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Walt Whitman, Old Salt Kossabone, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/old-salt-kossabone.html, id L04095.
Form and metre
Old Salt Kossabone is 20 lines in a single stanza. 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.9 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AAB---B------------- sideA · diedA · hisB · jenny · and · sea · hisB · custom · seated · day · himself · all · tides · going · veering · entering · watches · when · dead · back
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Far back, related on my mother’s side, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Old Salt Kossabone, I’ll tell you how he died: | 11 | ··········· |
| (Had been a sailor all his life--was nearly 90--lived with his | 14 | ···/˘····/˘··· |
| married grandchild, Jenny; | 6 | /˘/·/˘ |
| House on a hill, with view of bay at hand, and distant cape, and | 15 | ···········/˘·· |
| stretch to open sea;) | 5 | ··/˘· |
| The last of afternoons, the evening hours, for many a year his | 17 | ····˘/·/˘/˘·/˘··· |
| regular custom, | 5 | /˘˘/˘ |
| In his great arm chair by the window seated, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| (Sometimes, indeed, through half the day,) | 8 | ˘/˘/···· |
| Watching the coming, going of the vessels, he mutters to himself-- | 17 | /˘·/˘/˘··/˘·/˘·˘/ |
| And now the close of all: | 6 | ······ |
| One struggling outbound brig, one day, baffled for long--cross-tides | 15 | ·/˘˘/····/˘···· |
| and much wrong going, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| At last at nightfall strikes the breeze aright, her whole luck veering, | 15 | ···/····˘/···/˘ |
| And swiftly bending round the cape, the darkness proudly entering, | 16 | ·/˘/˘····/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| cleaving, as he watches, | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| “She’s free--she’s on her destination”--these the last words--when | 14 | ······˘/˘····· |
| Jenny came, he sat there dead, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Dutch Kossabone, Old Salt, related on my mother’s side, far back. | 16 | ······˘/˘··/˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.